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I placed my hand over the one Kleitos still had resting on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. Then I let it fall back to my side and rested it on my mother’s back, leaning back into the chair.

“We’ll talk in a moment. Go to your mate,” Kleitos said with a smile.

Valentina still wore that same nervous expression. I smiled at her, trying to mentally reach out, but the connection was still blocked, like a signal failing to reach a satellite. Something inside me was jamming the thread between us. I nodded once to Kleitos before rising from the chair, my fingers brushing his shoulder as I passed. Then I walked directly toward Valentina.

She stood near the hallway, leaning against the wall, her hands tucked behind her back. Reaching for them, I threaded my fingers through hers, tracing slow circles across her skin. Wordlessly, I guided her down the familiar hall of Arianna’s cottage. The furthest door on the right led us inside. The room was bigger than I expected for a cottage this size. The walls were bare, a fireplace was dimly lit in the corner, and a bed sat in the center of the room. That was all. No portraits, no ornaments, no trace of personality. If this was her room, why did it feel so empty?

Leading her to bed, we sat side by side on the thin mattress. She held her head down so I wouldn't see, as her fingers twiddled together, waiting for me to speak first. Even without our mental tether, I could feel the tension in her. Like she was anxious to be near me. That alone made me worry more than the attack. She should never feel uneasy with me. Reaching up, I gently cupped her cheek, brushing my thumb across her skin. “You can tell me anything,” I whispered, lowering my forehead to hers. “You don’t have to be scared, Valentina. Whatever happened back in that city… they’re just glad I wasn’t there.”

The air around us felt thin with her silence, almost like a weight between us. It was plain on her face that she was scared of my judgment of her. Just for a brief moment, I wanted her to trust me with her thoughts and her worries. Leaning in, I pressed a soft kiss to her lips, not demanding, just a reassurance, a promise wrapped in silence. Whatever fear she was holding… whatever made her tense up… I wanted to carry it for her. If she thought I would scold her for what happened, she was wrong. I would never let her endure disrespect just because she was afraid of how I’d feel.

Valentina let out a breath she’d been holding in her lungs. Her eyes were swimming with every emotion unsaid. Each inhale came out in ragged pulls, her composure unraveling right before me. It was as devastating as I was beautiful. That unshakable façade she always wore shattered in this quiet room, with just the two of us.

Without warning, her arms flew around my neck, pulling me into her as she buried her face against my chest. I hadn’t expected it, but it reminded me of something I kept forgetting: Valentina was just a girl. My age. Scared. Fragile in her own way. Thrown into a world that asked too much, too fast.

Holding her tightly, my thick arms wrapped around her waist as if to mold us into one form. I’d do anything to help her feel safe. Even if it meant anchoring her to my core. My head tucked into the crook of her neck, I let my affection speak through the weight of my embrace. My fingers drifted to the back of her head, gently massaging circles into her snow-white curls. Brushing a kiss against her tear-warmed cheek, my lips traveled to the shell of her ear, to whisper, “It’s okay. I’m here.”

Val stayed like that for a while, folded into me, her body trembling, tears silently staining my tunic. And I was glad to be the place she unraveled. I always wanted to be. I always would be. When she finally pulled back, her cheeks were flushed, her eyes swollen and red-rimmed. She wiped her face with both hands, and still… somehow… she smiled. A soft, sincere smile that nearly broke me all over again. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I don’t even know what that was.”

“It’s okay,” I whispered back, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ll never mind being the one you fall apart on. I’m honored you chose me.”

Biting her lip her eyes finally found mine. Valentina’s fingers reached up, gently brushing a strand of hair from my face. Her breath danced across my skin, warm, sweet, tinged with nervousness. It rolled over me in waves, sending tingles down my spine. Even the mark on my chest responded, humming low, like it yearned for her touch.

“You won’t hate me… for slaughtering that man?” she asked at last.

Her words twisted something sharp in my chest. But I pushed the weight of morality aside. This wasn’t the same as the Fae in the forest. This time, I knew the weight. When Arianna said that man had tried to violate my mother, and then spit in Valentina’s face, my only regret was that I hadn’t killed him myself. I’ve never taken a life before, never spilled blood for something that mattered, but for her… for them… I would.

Shaking my head, my hand raised to the back of her neck, holding her firmly in place. “You think I’d be angry with you for defending yourself? For protecting my mother?” I kept my voice steady, even though I was full of disbelief. “Valentina, no.”

Her expression softened, but confusion still clouded her eyes.

“But in the forest… you told me we’re supposed to unite, not slaughter.”

“That was before I stepped foot in this place and realized what we’re up against.” I paused, exhaling sharply. “There’s more here than killing for the sake of it. But everything we do, every step, has to have purpose. You taking those men lives meant something. And the way Mark was talking…” I trailed off, the sentence catching like glass in my throat. I didn’t want to believe it. Now that I’d said it out loud, the emotions hit harder. A sudden strain pulled tight against my chest, threading itself through my heart and winding upward like a vine.

Clenching my jaw, I tried to dispel the surge. I didn’t want to fall apart. Not right now. I wanted to be her soft place. She had carried my curiosity, my confusion, my anger. She let me unravel, even when she didn’t fully understand me. I wanted to give her that, too. A moment where she didn’t have to worry about me.

“Are you okay?” Valentina asked, her voice so gentle it nearly undid me. Through her own emotional storm, she was checking in on me. Always thinking of others. Her fingers trailed from my shoulder to the sides of my neck, leaving behind a quiet electricity in their wake. Her thumbs brushed tenderly along my jaw, slow, comforting strokes that grounded me.

I wanted to melt into that touch. “This is about you right now,” I tried to dismiss the question.

Her brows drew together, disbelief softening her features. “That wouldn’t be fair. I bare my soul to you, and you won’t bare yours to me?”

An unexpected chuckle slipped from me, quiet, warm, rooted in the chest. “That’s not what I meant.” Placing my hand on top of hers I explained, “You’ve been my soft place since the moment I met you. Well… maybe not the first moment,” I teased lightly, and her lips twitched. “But every moment after? Yes. Absolutely. I just wanted to return the favor.”

Her expression melted instantly. Her chocolate eyes turned to puddles of warmth, glistening as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. A soft gasp escaped her lips before she pressed them to mine, her fists curling tightly into the nape of my curls. Valentina swung her leg over my hips, straddling me with a tenderness that held fire. My hands found her waist gripping a fistful of her dress, tugging her against my chest. I just needed to feel her.

Our breath mingled, sweet and heady, like a potion meant to lull me into surrender. One hand stayed splayed across her back while the other traveled upward, slipping beneath the curtain of her curls to the soft flesh at her nape. Cradling her there, I held her as close as I dared. The world around us began to dissolve into haze, static humming in my ears. My own desires surged, urging me to lower her against the bed, to let my body speak every word my lips couldn’t. But I couldn’t. Not yet. I wasn’t ready for that… and I knew she wasn’t either.

Forcing myself to pull back, just enough my forehead rested against hers. My fingers gently massaged the roots of her curls, as I gave her a crooked smile. “I think we should go back out there,” I whispered, voice low and husky, rough with restraint. “Before you start something I can’t finish.” The heat of her blush radiating between us, rising from her chest to her cheeks like a slow-blooming flame. She let out a breathy laugh that struck me deep, like thunder rolling low through my core. My hand had a mind of their own as gripped the fabric of her dress tighter, throwing my head back with a laugh of my own. “Come on,” I murmured, gently guiding her off my lap as I stood.

I tried my best not to make it painfully obvious just how much of a hold she had on me, how badly my body wanted to react. Every inch of her this close to me was temptation incarnate. They trusted me to be alone with her far too easily. Because if this were me a few months ago...

Well.

My eyes dipped, just for a second, to where the swell of her breasts strained against the delicate hem of her dress. The fabric clung to her waist like it was designed solely to test my restraint. Shooing the thoughts away, I willed myself back into a place of control. Then I reached for her hand, lifting it to my lips and placing a soft kiss to the back of it before intertwining our fingers. “Don’t get quiet on me now, Valentina,” I whispered, my tone playful but weighted with meaning.

She smiled, biting her bottom lip like she knew exactly what she was doing to me. “I’m not,” she said softly, a beat later.